UCF Knights Plan to Keep Charging On

Athletics at UCF in recent years has celebrated unprecedented levels of success and achievement in virtually every measurable category on and off the field.
 
Vice president and director of athletics Danny White has no intention of permitting that momentum to subside. 
 
So White and his wife Shawn have made a personal pledge of $100,000 to kick off the Keep Charging On Fund.
 
The Keep Charging On Fund is a one-year fundraising effort to provide unrestricted charitable support for UCF Athletics. It will provide funding to maintain the significant momentum built over the past four years, despite the budgetary uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
"We all have seen the tremendous progress we've made toward accomplishing the goals we set out in our strategic plan—and we couldn't be any more committed to making them happen," says White. "This is our way of sending that message to all of Knight Nation."
 
The UCF Athletics budget--$51 million in fiscal year 2015-16--was expected to grow to $74 million for fiscal year 2020-21. Through ticket sales with a 2020 seven-game home football schedule, donations, sponsorships and the new American Athletic Conference television package, the department was forecasting $7 million in growth for FY21 to continue to build a top-25 program and create the future of college sports. 
 
Adds White, "We had been impatiently waiting for Fiscal Year 2021 to fund strategic priorities that will provide margins of excellence and deliver huge competitive advantages for our coaches and student-athletes. We have worked too hard to have our momentum stall, yet a strategic pause  became necessary. Stalling our momentum is not an option--we have too much determination and grit to be patient."
 
For the final few months of the past fiscal year, UCF Athletics froze all salaries, spending and searches for open positions. For the new 2020-2021 fiscal year, staff and coaches reduced their respective budgets by 10 percent across the board, while scheduling and travel restrictions have been put in place to help reduce costs.
 
"We aren't alone. Everybody in the country is making sacrifices," White says. "My top priority is to protect our people--student-athletes, coaches and staff. We still can be in a position of strength and get right back to doing what we do a year from now. We've got a lot of good things going, and we want to keep them all going." 
 
More than anyone, White knows how much work his department has put into building an entity that now projects all its programs as championship-caliber teams. He's not about to veer from the UCF Athletics mission statement that promises "to positively transform the lives of our students academically, athletically and personally through a nationally competitive intercollegiate athletics program that enhances the reputation and visibility of the University."
 
"We'll work through these challenges over the coming months and get to a point where we are rolling again," White says. "In my mind, I'm looking at this as a pause to get through the uncertainty—and it's based on how our programs have been built and are poised for success. This initiative is all about focusing on the positives as we continue to build our brand.
 
"As Orlando's Hometown Team, all of us have great empathy for what everyone in Orlando and in our fan base is experiencing. We strongly feel that what is good for UCF is good for Orlando and vice-versa. We know the continued growth of UCF Athletics ultimately will help the local businesses and local economy.
 
"So we are going to 'keep charging on' with our vision."
 
Anyone interested in giving to the Keep Charging On Fund can do so via www.KeepChargingOn.com.